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Notice to the Bar Concerning Adjustments to Court Procedure Due to December 1, 2017 Amendments to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure

Friday, November 17, 2017

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT
DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO THE BAR AND PUBLIC
CONCERNING ADJUSTMENTS TO COURT PROCEDURE DUE TO
DECEMBER 1, 2017 AMENDMENTS TO THE
FEDERAL RULES OF BANKRUPTCY PROCEDURE

CHAPTER 13 PLAN AND MOTIONS:

The Clerk is mandated to collect certain statistics regarding motions and other documents
filed with the Court. To facilitate the collection of this data the Court’s mandatory local form,
Chapter 13 Plan and Motions will be revised effective December 1, 2017. Specifically, the
Court has added fields on page one of the Plan for debtors to indicate the quantity of the
following items included in the Plan.

Request for Valuation of Security

Motion to Avoid Liens

Assumption of Unexpired Executory Contracts or Leases

IMPORTANT REMINDER: Debtors and their attorneys must sign the Plan in Part 10
(Non-Standard Provisions) AND in the Signature field on the last page. Failure to properly sign
the Plan may result in dismissal of the debtor’s case.

The revised plan is attached, and is available for download on the Court’s web site,
njb.uscourts.gov.

CANCEL AND DISCHARGE MORTGAGE OR LIEN:
Under 5009(d) parties seeking an order to declare a lien satisfied must do by motion.
Accordingly, the Court’s local form, Application to Cancel and Discharge Mortgage or Lien will
be replaced by a new local form, Certification in Support of Motion to Cancel and Discharge
Mortgage or Lien. In addition, the Court’s local form, Chapter 13 Order Authorizing
Cancellation, Voiding, and/or Discharge of Record of Mortgage or Lien will be replaced with
new local form, Order on Motion to Cancel and Discharge Mortgage or Lien.

PROOF OF CLAIM SUPPLEMENTS:
Creditors seeking to file supplements to a previously filed proof of claim under
3002(c)(7) must do so using the amended proof of claim functionality. Instructions for filing an
amended proof of claim may be found in the CM/ECF User’s Guide available on the Court’s
web site.

CHAPTER 7 PROOF OF CLAIM DEADLINES:
It has been longstanding Court policy that all new chapter 7 cases are considered “no
asset” cases until the case trustee files a Notice of Assets. The only exception to the policy is
cases that convert to chapter 7 from chapter 11 – which are designated as asset cases. Beginning
December 1, 2017, cases that convert from chapter 11 to chapter 7 will be designated as “no
asset” cases at the time of conversion. The case trustee may file a Notice of Assets if assets are
discovered subsequent to conversion.
The above changes are effective December 1, 2017.